Concerns with Eric Reid

Way more fluid than Mays, way better instincts, better football player in every sense of the word. Mays was a physical freak, a combine stud, that's it. Lifted a lot, ran fast and jumped high. None of that really translated on to the football field for him. No lateral quickness, no fluidity to his game. Guy was basically a sledgehammer.

Originally posted by Phoenix49ers:

Originally posted by tatdwolf49:

Will I wasn't around 2 yrs but I do remember what I read about it all so whatever ...

Aldon was mocked anywhere from between pick's 5-12, Houston absolutely loved him, there's absolutely not a snowball's chance in hell the 49ers could have traded down 4 or 5 spots and still gotten him.

I don't remember reading much about him at tha time N if he was mocked frm 5-12 why was everyone so shocked N said we reached at pick #7 ???? By no way am I unhappy with him he's a great player just wondering N saying what I remember frm that draft ....

Originally posted by tatdwolf49:
I don't remember reading much about him at tha time N if he was mocked frm 5-12 why was everyone so shocked N said we reached at pick #7 ???? By no way am I unhappy with him he's a great player just wondering N saying what I remember frm that draft ....

From what I recall it was because he wasn't a big name, he was injured the year he came out as well so he played in half the games or so and only had 6 sacks as opposed to 11 in his freshman year. We did that this year as well, we took some very talented guys who's production dropped off a bit either due to injury or the team being weaker in general. A lot of guys had us taking Amukamara, Quinn or Gabbert (before Smith rebounded many wanted a new QB), while many were hoping Patrick Peterson would drop, IIRC.

Originally posted by Cooper22:

Originally posted by Phoenix49ers:

Originally posted by dtg_9er:
Watching this video seems to prove that Reid is a very good center fielder, making up for missed tackles by team mates. I do not see bad angles or missed tackles. Is he wrong sometimes in covering an area? Depends what his responsibilities were. He makes up a lot of ground to finish off plays and I do not see Taylor Mays at all!

I saw Reid making up for miscues by teammates while with Mays, teammates were usually making up for his miscues.

IMO, Reid obviously isn't anywhere near how raw Mays was, but he's still not as polished that I would have liked out of a first round draft pick and probable starter for a super bowl contending team.. Although I think he has great potential and can be better than Goldson.. Also, I do not see the coverage skills and ball skills that I would have liked out of a Free Safety.. But again, that's just my opinion

Perhaps JH and TB are wrong but they certainly have done their homework and know this guy really well. If they make an error by selecting him it may be due to over valuing his intangibles such as character and intelligence...but they've earned my trust and respect for the foreseeable future. Someone pointed out, in another thread, that LSU lost three DBs in the first three round of the 2012 draft. This may well have affected Reid--agree with Phoenix that he was covering for the mistakes of his team mates.

Originally posted by dtg_9er:
Perhaps JH and TB are wrong but they certainly have done their homework and know this guy really well. If they make an error by selecting him it may be due to over valuing his intangibles such as character and intelligence...but they've earned my trust and respect for the foreseeable future. Someone pointed out, in another thread, that LSU lost three DBs in the first three round of the 2012 draft. This may well have affected Reid--agree with Phoenix that he was covering for the mistakes of his team mates.

Those games are from his sophomore season, I believe.

I don't trust that cut-up. I don't think it's long enough to include all the plays from seven games.

Watch the video I posted and compare.

I'm concerned he might kill someone on the field. Big hitter.

Theres alot of Rookies who have bad tape in College but the NFL Coaches will develop them

Originally posted by Wodwo:
Those games are from his sophomore season, I believe.

I don't trust that cut-up. I don't think it's long enough to include all the plays from seven games.

Watch the video I posted and compare.

Did watch and thank you for posting! I don't understand using these short videos to knock a player. On most plays Reid was out of camera shot at the start so we don't know whether he had an assignment away from the run/pass and made up tremendous ground, or what! But, as I said, it seemed to me he was covering team mate mistakes as he was usually the second, third or fourth guy there, having come from way outside the camera shot.

Reid wasn't my favorite safety but I can't hold myself up as an expert! I'll take JH and TB's judgement over mine.

Originally posted by tatdwolf49:

Originally posted by Phoenix49ers:

Originally posted by tatdwolf49:
Will I wasn't around 2 yrs but I do remember what I read about it all so whatever ...

Aldon was mocked anywhere from between pick's 5-12, Houston absolutely loved him, there's absolutely not a snowball's chance in hell the 49ers could have traded down 4 or 5 spots and still gotten him.

I don't remember reading much about him at tha time N if he was mocked frm 5-12 why was everyone so shocked N said we reached at pick #7 ???? By no way am I unhappy with him he's a great player just wondering N saying what I remember frm that draft ....

When the 49ers selected defensive end, soon to be outside linebacker,Aldon Smith with the seventh overall pick of the 2011 NFL Draft, the primary issue for most people was that the 49ers were reaching with the selection. A lot of people liked Aldon Smith as a player but were critical of the decision to draft him with such a high pick. Why not trade down and pick up some picks if you really want him that badly, some asked.

It turns out, it is entirely possible Aldon Smith was not going to be falling much further. Apparently the Houston Texans may have been interested in Smith at the eleventh spot if the 49ers had not selected him. I say "maybe" instead of "were" because we don't really know for sure how much they were interested given the somewhat limited speculation in that article. Nonetheless, some kind of interest might have forced the 49ers hands if they were remotely aware of this.

For the folks that have been critical of the pick as a reach, does it change your mind that Smith might very well have gone a few picks later? For some I'd imagine they just didn't want Smith at all unless it came courtesy of a trade down. But for some, maybe this changes your stance. Or maybe not. Who really knows at this point.

Every team faces criticisms when they draft a player higher than their fan-based might have had that player rated. I was talking to Ninjames last night and we were joking about the idea of scouts or GMs poking around blogs and mock drafts to see how people are rating players and laugh at how off people might actually be on their rankings. Maybe we're sometimes right on the ball, but I have to think it is easy for positional rankings from "outsiders" are bound to be way off in certain instances.

http://www.ninersnation.com/2011/5/3/2150564/49ers-2011-nfl-draft-pick-aldon-smith-to-reach-or-not-to-reach

The problem with fans trying to scout picks, especially at a position of safety, is that we don't know the defensive call. There were some plays in the Reid videos that looked like he had outside shading responsibility and played it perfectly, but the underneath defender got burned giving the receiver inside leverage to make the play.

To the casual football fan, they see a receiver running wide open down the middle with Reid not in position to make the play but those with defensive experience see Reid in the position he is supposed to be in while another defender missed his assignment. Thats just one play of many that affects many peoples opinions about Reid. But the fact is if you dont know the defensive call then you dont know if Reid played it correctly or incorrectly. Scouts can talk to coaches after the game to see what happened during specific plays, internet GM's cant. So while everyone is entitled to their opinion, not everyones opinion is valid.

Yea only problem i see is him staring in the backfield way too long instead of reacting. He's not reading and recognizing. Kinda shows bad instincts and a bad feel for the game.

Really not sure why folks want to compare everybody to everybody though. Just b/c it worked for Aldon doesn't mean it works everybody. 2 different players with different work ethic. One guy might pick up things faster than the other guy. Maybe one works harder than the other. It's just everybody saying oh AP came back in record time so that means every player now comes back in record time. Just a really bad comparison. And can we compare him to maybe just an average safety like Whitner. A guy drafted high that disappointed and didn't live up to that selection. Doesn't mean the guy is all out terrible. Maybe Reid doesn't live up to the 18th pick but that doesn't mean he's gonna be a bust and bad player like Mays. Maybe he turns out to be average. Folks just got from the guy being an all star or a bust

Originally posted by GoldenJoe:
I don't see all those negatives in the tape. Like most, I see a Dashon Goldson type safety with better ball skills coming out of college. Goldson's scouting report:

Negatives: Lacks that sharp burst needed to recover when beaten deep … Gets sloppy in his tackling at times (mostly in space), possible due to a previous shoulder injury, as he is inconsistent wrapping (better wrapper in closed quarters) and will miss a few open field tackles … Slow to read and react to plays when playing in man coverage (struggles to locate the ball with his back turned to the action) … Could improve his pursuit range once he learns how to take proper angles … Can make the interception, but lacks natural hands (tends to basket catch, resulting in several picks turning into deflections) … Lacks the second gear to recover when beaten on long routes and will miss a few tackles working in space (hit-&-miss type on the move, but better when he lets the play come to him) … Will need further medical evaluation, as he has suffered injuries to both shoulders during his career.

Spot on for Goldson. 75% of his INT's were some of the easiest give-me INT's I've ever seen. Right place though. I'd prefer he get there EARLY and defend passes. Hopefully this is something Reid will be better at.

Originally posted by dtg_9er:

Originally posted by Wodwo:
Those games are from his sophomore season, I believe.

I don't trust that cut-up. I don't think it's long enough to include all the plays from seven games.

Watch the video I posted and compare.

Did watch and thank you for posting! I don't understand using these short videos to knock a player. On most plays Reid was out of camera shot at the start so we don't know whether he had an assignment away from the run/pass and made up tremendous ground, or what! But, as I said, it seemed to me he was covering team mate mistakes as he was usually the second, third or fourth guy there, having come from way outside the camera shot.

Reid wasn't my favorite safety but I can't hold myself up as an expert! I'll take JH and TB's judgement over mine.

Agreed, at the 2:10 mark it appears Reid blew the coverage by being late to pick up the RB but if you watch closely, it was the LB who was supposed to cover the RB out of the backfield and left him wide open. 2 LBers covered one shallow RB. Reid got over there to help...

They had some plays on him (LSU defense)..man those RB's are huge and shifty and are tough to bring down with a head of steam. But look at the score...it's 6 to 6 in the 4th Q and Reid made the only difference-making play. That is similar to how our defense is schemed.

First post here, lurker for 10+ years.

I am an LSU alumni and have watched Reid grow through out his time at LSU. What I can tell you is that the 2011 Reid is what you will be getting. LSU had TWO freshmen CBs starting during the 2012 season. Please read that again. In addition, the nickel back was only a sophomore and the starting SS (loston) was in his first year as a starter.

Eric Reid was not allowed to be proactive/aggressive, but rather was required to play a reactionary/clean-up role due to the unprecedented youth of the secondary.

I'm usually pretty adept at removing the homer glasses and identifying LSU players who will/won't make good pros. Eric Reid without a doubt has elite physical tools, the maturity, the drive, and smarts to be Pro Bowl level Safety.

Please feel free to ask any questions you may have, as I have been following Reid since his high school days.

A couple things I saw:

He has experience against Tavon Austin and also some pretty good teams

LSU was playing prevent defense in quite a few of those clips, they were up by more than 20 points in many cases. For example, at the end he gave up a big gain but they were up 42-3 against Auburn.

He does seem to miss tackles when coming up on run support and his ball awareness could be better.